Anyone watching the State of the Union address Tuesday night might have felt a sense of déjà vu, as President Obama adopted a boldly progressive attitude he hadn't taken in years -- really, since before assuming office. What is different now -- for those viewers who didn't hit the power button after the speech -- is that many of Obama's opponents, including his most ardent and ideological critics on the Republican right, are speaking in similar tones about inequality of income and the structure of the economy.

Here's a review of the evening's coverage.

What's in Wonkbook: 1) State of the Union review 2) Opinions, including Fox on tax inversions 3) The Postal Service has proposed a rate increase, and more

Chart of the day: 

The White House.

The share of national income accruing to labor has declined precipitously since the turn of the millennium. Thomas B. Edsall in The New York Times.

Obama is still a proud liberal. "Emboldened by a stronger economy and a series of recent policy initiatives, President Obama on Tuesday night made clear that he is committed to cementing a liberal legacy... Obama celebrated many of the most ambitious, progressive policies he put in place shortly after taking office and called for more — making an unabashed pitch for expansive government action on the economy, scientific research, infrastructure, education and the environment." Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.

Hemmed in by a Republican Congress, the president chose to talk about his party's ideals. "Mr. Obama knows his prospects of getting Congress to agree are less than zero; Republicans dismissed his ideas before he even voiced them. That does not make them irrelevant. Mr. Obama was speaking not just to the present but to the future, to the 2016 presidential elections and even beyond. By simply raising the plight of the middle class (and, looming behind it, the larger issue of economic inequality), he has firmly inserted issues of economic fairness into the political debate." The New York Times.

BOUIE: Liberal democrats opened this new space for the president. "If you want to see how the political and ideological limits of the Democratic Party have expanded since the 2012 election, just look at the scope of Obama’s rhetoric. Following the path paved by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — who has captured the energy of the Democratic grass roots — Obama has offered a muscular defense of the party’s liberalism and the programs it has produced." Slate.

But economic inequality is no longer just a theme for liberals. "'Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?' Obama said... His direct appeal to taxing the rich and giving to the poor is a sign of just how mainstream populism has become at a time when 2016 presidential hopefuls, including Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney, are talking about how to help those left behind." Jonathan Allen for Bloomberg.

STRAIN: Meanwhile, the president isn't even trying to fix the tax code. "Taken as a whole the president's tax proposal is quite bad. And it suggests that the president isn't interested in compromise or working with Republicans in Congress on tax reform." The Washington Post.

CARNEY: His proposed tax credits show he thinks moms who stay at home are worth less. "Yes, it is costly for a mother to enter the workforce. But it is also costly for a mother to exit or stay out of the workforce. Switching jobs has costs, just as staying in your job has costs. Every life decision includes risks and costs and benefits. Obama has decided that the cost of a mother returning to work and placing her children in daycare is something he wants to subsidize." The Washington Examiner.

VINIK: Why are conservatives so upset about the tax proposal? "While conservatives won't like the entirety of Obama's plan, it contains many ideas that they do like and have proposed over the past year. But because Obama proposed it, it's dead on arrival." The New Republic.

Obama's optimistic tone isn't yet supported by the data on wages. "In making a case that America had broken out of the economic doldrums, he said: 'Wages are finally starting to rise again.' While it is true that earnings are rising, the problem with that statement is that multiple government surveys suggest income growth remains much slower than before the 2007-09 recession. Average hourly earnings in the private sector rose just 1.7 percent in the year through December." Jason Lange for Reuters.

Primary sources: Read the transcript (as delivered); watch the tape in full. Here's Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), delivering the Republican Party's official response, and here's Rep. Curt Clawson (R-Fla.), speaking for the tea party.

Ernst didn't mention immigration. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), responding for Republicans in Spanish, did. "At a few subtle moments, Ernst and Curbelo deviated from each other. Ernst emphasized national security. Curbelo stressed his experience working on education issues and expressed hope that Republicans can work with Obama on immigration reform. Ernst never muttered the word 'immigration.'" Ed O'Keefe and Bob Costa in The Washington Post.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) laid down what could become a populist platform for the 2016 campaign in his response. "'Income inequality has worsened under this administration. And tonight, President Obama offers more of the same policies – policies that have allowed the poor to get poorer and the rich to get richer,' he said. ... At the center of Paul’s rebuttal was an effort to reconcile his libertarian ideology, which stress smaller government, fewer taxes, and fewer international entanglements, with concerns over growing economic disparities in the United States and mounting international turmoil." Jose A. DelReal in The Washington Post.

And another likely presidential contender, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), followed suit. "'It's true that the top one percent are doing great under Barack Obama today,' Cruz said to Fox's Megyn Kelly. 'The top one percent earn a higher share of the national income than any year since 1928. The sad reality is that with big government, under the Obama administration, the rich and powerful in the Obama administration have gotten fat and happy.' " Rebecca Nelson in National Journal.

KRUGMAN: Republicans need a real economic agenda. "Keystone would temporarily increase US employment by 0.03, that’s right, 0.03 percent. Or to put it another way: given the recent pace of job creation, the number one GOP policy priority, basically the only job measure the party has to offer, would create about as many jobs as the Obama recovery is adding every five days." The New York Times.

JENKINS: Was last year really the hottest year on record? "When it comes to 2014 and the other 'hottest year' candidates, 2005 and 2010, the observed temperature difference was smaller than the margin of error by a factor of five." The Wall Street Journal.

FOX: Tax inversions are costly for companies in other ways. "Maybe the giant tax savings will prove to be worth all the ensuing hassle and bad publicity." Bloomberg View.

Marijuana shouldn't be on Schedule 1. "Lumping marijuana in with heroin and deeming it to have no medicinal value at all is unreasonable and unnecessary. ... The DEA has for decades made it nearly impossible for researchers to obtain the drug for study. The lack of research hasn't stopped many states from allowing the use of the drug for pain relief and other therapeutic purposes, but it has denied doctors and patients important information about the risks or benefits." The Los Angeles Times.

Proponents of Keystone XL win one round in the Senate, but more controversial votes are still ahead. Republicans and a few Democrats voted down amendments that would have required fossil fuels transported through the pipeline to remain in the United States. "Also due up on the bill are a pair of Democratic amendments on climate change. One from Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii quotes from the Environmental Impact Statement on climate change science, while the other from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island says simply that 'climate change is real and not a hoax.' " Clare Foran in National Journal.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush meets with political donors in Washington. "During a session with nearly 40 trade association executives, Bush talked about the major themes of his public life: education reform, immigration, and running for office. He did not talk about policy in detail, emphasizing instead the importance of outreach and empathy." Tom Hamburger in The Washington Post.

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a small rate increase. "Prices across all classes of mail would increase by an average of 1.966 percent on April 26. The cost of a single-piece stamp would remain at 49 cents, but the rate for letters weighing more than 1 ounce would increase from 21 cents to 22 cents per additional ounce. Additionally, the agency would raise the price of delivering letters internationally from $1.15 to $1.20 and bump the rate for postcards from 34 cents to 35 cents." Josh Hicks in The Washington Post.

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